MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois broke open a three-point game with a 10-0 run late in the second half and outscored Eastern Illinois 21-4 over the final six minutes to defeat the Panthers, 75-57.

Nikola Bodic sparked the 10-0 run at the 5:44 mark with his third three-pointer of the half, helping the Leathernecks (2-2) gain a 66-53 advantage with 3:57 to play. The run was part of a larger 14-3 stretch in which Western Illinois was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor in just over five minutes.

The Leathernecks jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes and held a single-digit lead until the 9:35 mark. The rest of the half saw five lead changes as the Panthers (1-2) took a 31-30 lead into the break behind 54.5 percent three-point shooting (6-of-11). The Leathernecks shot 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the floor but were 0-for-2 from long range in the first period.

Western found a way to improve on its hot shooting by hitting 63 percent (17-of-27) from the field in the second half, and 75 percent (6-of-8) from three-point range, helped in part to 12 second-half Panthers turnovers.

The Panthers were able to gain no more than a four-point edge twice in the first five minutes of the second half, which included five ties by the 13:00 mark. The Leathernecks used an 8-0 run that included three-pointers by Bodic and David Nurse to take a 50-42 lead with 11:18 to play. Their lead dwindled to two, however, three minutes later, before they outscored the Panthers 23-7 over the final 8:22.

Five Leathernecks scored in double figures, including three who came off the bench. David Jackson led all Leathernecks with 14 points while David DuBois added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Bodic led all bench players with 13 points, James Washington contributed 11 and Jerryck Owens-Murrey added 10.

Postgame quotes from Western Illinois head coach Derek Thomas:
“We're gaining confidence. When we talk about being up two or three possessions in the middle of the game, that is when you have to be poised and pull away to avoid games going down to the wire. That's how you grow. You take care of it as soon as you can so you don't put yourself in those close situations.”

“We were able to take Eastern out of their offense a little bit and put some full-court pressure on them so they were forced to speed the game up a little bit. We thought that would be to our advantage and our guys did a great job of that.”

“I didn't want to put too much pressure on us going into tonight, but I thought this was a huge game for us. After stubbing our toe at Morehead after leading most of the game, and after playing Kansas State so strongly, we needed to show that we have learned something and have grown. Tonight was a huge win for us.”

On Eastern's three-point shooting:
“Half of their points in the first half were threes, so we knew at halftime that if we shut out the three and applied some pressure we would be able to get them out of their rhythm.”

On winning the rebounding battle, 32-20:
“That's something we've been working on since day one. We did a great job on the glass tonight and it helped get our transition game going.”

On David Jackson's 14 points:
“He's been settling for his jumpers and mid-range shots but he's a great one-on-one player. We told him that he has to use his whole arsenal. He wasn't getting to the basket enough. We have plenty of guys who can shoot. We also talked to Nikola Bodic about not shooting enough threes and going to the basket too much. Both of those guys are great players and when they are both on the court at the same time we have a real advantage and we can spread people out with our attack.”